Air on the Skin, a 2003 exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Air on the Skin (detail), 2002. Original drawing hand-incised into black shoe polish on acrylic on 285 gsm Fabriano Rosaspina Avorio paper, 70 x 304 cm. Standard Bank Corporate Art Collection Air on the Skin , Standard Bank Art Gallery, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa 28 January – 15 March 2003 The Standard Bank Gallery hosted an exhibition of the major drawing ‘Air on the Skin’ (2002) (Standard Bank Collection) in their ground floor exhibition space. The Johannesburg public also had the chance to view a sister work of the same title and year from the Sasol Collection. ‘Air on the Skin’ won first prize at the Schumann-Sasol Wax in Art competition (2002). The show also featured a selection of lithographs and etchings as well as page proofs from the artists’ book ‘Cathexis’. A private viewing of this show was also mounted at Fordsburg Artists Studios from 13 to 20 September 2002. Artist’s statement For me, Air on the Skin is – among many other things – about exposure. Clothes are our outer coverings; they determine what we want the world to see of us, either by circumstance or choice, forming first impressions. They are an outer ‘skin’, which, like the dried remnants of an insect exoskeleton or snake scales, are shed, washed, re-worn or replaced. They are intricately involved in our evolution and transformation. Shoe polish reflects the light and changes the surface appeal of shoes, bags, belts and other human accoutrements. Shoe polish also absorbs the light when left in its untampered form. In this work it has been layered over acrylic to create the deeply recessive matt blackness which gives this work its depth. I think of these landscapes not as depictions of physical spaces, but as renditions of inner landscapes. Related Content Exhibition ‘Pages from Cathexis’, Open Window Gallery, 2000

Biography and CV of Paul Emmanuel, South African artist working across drawing, installation, film, public art and counter-memorial projects. Photograph by Brad Simpson, 2026, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Paul Emmanuel was born in 1969 in Kabwe, Zambia, and graduated in Fine Art from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in 1994. His multidisciplinary practice explores the relationships between memory, identity, the body, public space, and the cultural traces of violence and loss. In 2004, on the tenth anniversary of South Africa’s democracy, Emmanuel installed the first phase of his counter-memorial series The Lost Men at the 1820 Settlers National Monument in Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown, South Africa. The second phase took place in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2007. In 2014, the third phase was installed adjacent to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in France as an official event of the First World War centenary. Emmanuel’s work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Apartheid Museum, Wits Art Museum, Freedom Park Museum, the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Boston University Art Galleries, the Sylt Foundation, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and the Dakar Biennale. His work is represented in South African private, corporate, and public collections, as well as internationally in collections including the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution; Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State; the Sylt Foundation in Germany; and the Fontmaure Art Culture Centre in France. In 2020, Emmanuel’s work was the subject of a monograph published by Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg. From 2022 to 2025, he was a Fulbright Scholar in the United States, researching the cultural dimensions of public space and the visual legacies of U.S. involvement in Middle East conflicts. In 2024, he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the Mount Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. In 2025, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree, honoris causa, by Montserrat College of Art in Boston. Emmanuel is currently fulfilling his Fulbright home residency in South Africa. He is also a Consulting Executive Director for the Tour de Force Foundation in Washington, D.C., working across civic engagement, arts education, and public-facing cultural initiatives. He is also a content expert, co-curriculum designer, and lecturer for the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Talking with Monuments: Veteran Dialogues on Remembering , supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities program Dialogues on the Experience of War . Education 2024 Master of Fine Arts, Mount Royal School of Art (Multidisciplinary MFA), Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Thesis exhibition: Untethered Thesis paper: Untethered: Exploring Intimacy and Estrangement in Military Culture and Civilian Society 1994 Bachelor of Fine Art, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Majors: Printmaking and Drawing Solo exhibitions and public installations 2021 Substance of Shadows , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa Rising-falling , General Louis Botha Monument, Union Buildings, Pretoria, South Africa 2020 Men and Monuments , Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa 2018 Impermanence , Fried Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa 2017 Remnants , The Reservoir, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa 2016 Remnants , Gallery 808, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2015 Remnants , Freedom Park Museum, Pretoria, South Africa 2014 The Lost Men France , Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, First World War centenary, Picardy, France 2011 Transitions Multiples , Gallery AOP Featured Artist, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa Transitions Multiples , Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Transitions , Rosenberg Gallery, Brown Centre, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Transitions , Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany 2010 Transitions , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 2009 Transitions , Spier Old Wine Cellar Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa Transitions , Albany Museum, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa The Lost Men , Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany Transitions , KZNSA Gallery, KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts, Durban, South Africa Transitions , William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley, South Africa Transitions , Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa 2008 Transitions , Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa 2007 The Lost Men Mozambique , Catembe Ferry Jetty, adjacent to the Mozambique Navy Command building, Maputo, Mozambique 2006 After-image , Hollard Villa Arcadia, Johannesburg, South Africa 2005 After-image , Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa After-image , Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa 2004 After-image , University of Stellenbosch Art Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa The Lost Men Grahamstown , 1820 Settlers National Monument, National Arts Festival, Makhanda, South Africa 2003 Air on the Skin , Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 2000 Pages from Cathexis , Open Window Contemporary Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa Selected group exhibitions and film screenings (c) indicates catalogue 2026 Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. (c) 2025 If You Look Hard Enough, You Can See Our Future , Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. 2022 Reviewing the Past , Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2021–2022 Cartographies of Becoming , Sylt Foundation, Sylt Island, Germany 2020 Cure , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 2019 Ampersand Foundation 21 Years Celebration Exhibition , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (c) Digital Africa , Biennale de Casablanca project space, Casablanca, Morocco Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts Opening Exhibition , Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa 2018 Material Gains: Contemporary Art from the Spier Collection , Stellenbosch University Museum, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa I Am Because You Are: A Search for Ubuntu with Permission to Dream (touring), Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, and National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa 2017 International Printmaking Alliance Exhibition , Taimiao Art Gallery, Imperial Ancestral Temple, Beijing, China Rethinking Kakotopia , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa Booknesses: Artists’ Books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (c) The Art of Reading: From William Kentridge to Wikipedia , Meermanno Museum, House of the Book, The Hague, The Netherlands (c) 2016 In Plain Sight: Social Life in South Africa and Romania Before and After 1989 , ApARTe Gallery of George Enescu University of Arts, Iași, Romania Rites of Passage: Between Light and Shadow , Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town, South Africa (c) 2015 Between Democracies 1989–2014: Memory and Commemoration (touring), Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Dom umenia/kunsthalle, Bratislava, Slovakia (c) Permanent War: The Age of Global Conflict , Barbara and Steven Grossman Gallery, Mrs. E. Ross Anderson Auditorium, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (c) Battleground , Standard Bank Gallery and Albany History Museum, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa (c) Representations of Otherness and Resistance , Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa (c) 2014 Doing Hair: Art and Hair in Africa , Wits Art Museum, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (c) Twenty: Contemporary Art from South Africa (touring), Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, U.S.A.; Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa; and FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg, South Africa 2013 My Joburg (touring), La Maison Rouge, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, France (c); Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany (c) France–South Africa Seasons 2012–2013 : “Touch me” , Le Cube, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, France 2012 At Home with the Ludskis: Midnight Mass Edition #7 , 10th London Short Film Festival, Rio Cinema, London, U.K. Not My War , Michaelis Galleries, University of Cape Town, South Africa (c) Dak’Art: 10th Biennale of Contemporary African Art , National Museum, Dakar, Senegal (c) 2011 9th In-the-Palace International Short Film Festival , Balchik, Bulgaria (c) 2010 Black Box , Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 5th Sardinia Film Festival , Sassari, Sardinia, Italy 19th Séquence Court-Métrage International Film Festival , Toulouse, France 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2009 4th Africa-in-Motion International Film Festival , Edinburgh International Film Festival, Filmhouse Cinema, Edinburgh, U.K. (c) Antimatter Media Art , Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, Canada (c) 2006 Navigating the Bookscape: Artists’ Books and the Digital Interface (touring), Aardklop National Arts Festival, Potchefstroom, and FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg, South Africa (c) 2004–2007 Waldsee 1944 (touring), Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin, Germany; 2B Galleria, Budapest, Hungary; Hebrew Union College Museum, New York, U.S.A.; Florida Holocaust Museum, U.S.A.; Hibel Museum, FAU Jupiter, Florida, U.S.A.; Ben Uri Gallery, London, U.K.; and Alper JCC, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (c) 2003 The Ampersand Foundation (2nd exhibition), Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (c) 2002 The Sasol Wax in Art Competition , Sasolburg, South Africa (c) 2001 The Bag Factory Show , Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 1999 Postcards from South Africa , Axis Gallery, New York, U.S.A. 1998 South African Printmaking , Stockholm, Sweden (c) 1996 Artists’ Books in the Ginsberg Collection , Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa 1995 The First Four Years , Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa 1994 Open Bite – A New Look at Intaglio Printmaking , Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa Awards, fellowships, scholarships and grants 2025 Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, Montserrat College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2024 Gold Stern Mount Royal Emerging Artist Award, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 2023 Community Endowed Fellowship, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 2022 Production Grant for Untethered and The Veteran’s Memorial to the Living , Tour de Force Foundation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Graduate Research Grant for Untethered and The Veteran’s Memorial to the Living , Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Fulbright Scholarship, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Merit Scholarship for a Master of Fine Arts degree, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 2021 Production Grant for Rising-falling , Diversity Art Forum, London, U.K. Writing Fellowship for Rising-falling , Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, University of Johannesburg, South Africa 2020 Production Grant for Men and Monuments exhibition and associated publication, Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud (IFAS), Johannesburg, South Africa 2014 Production Grant for The Lost Men France , 14-18 Mission du Centenaire de la Première Guerre Mondiale, Paris, France Production Grant for The Lost Men France , Institut français, Paris, France, and Johannesburg, South Africa Production Grant for The Lost Men France , National Arts Council of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa 2013 Production Grant for “Touch me” , Institut français, Paris, France, and National Arts Council of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa 2010 Best Experimental Film for 3SAI: A Rite of Passage , 5th Sardinia International Film Festival, Sassari, Italy 2009 Best Short Film for 3SAI: A Rite of Passage , 4th Africa-in-Motion Short Film Competition, Africa-in-Motion International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, U.K. 2008 Production Grant for Transitions , National Arts Council of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa 2007 Production Grant for The Lost Men Mozambique , Pro Helvetia Arts Council of Switzerland Production Grant for The Lost Men Mozambique , Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland 2004 Production Grant for The Lost Men Grahamstown , National Arts Festival, Makhanda, South Africa Production Grant for The Lost Men Grahamstown , National Arts Council of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa 2002 First Prize for Air on the Skin , SASOL Wax in Art Competition, Johannesburg, South Africa 1997 The Ampersand Fellowship, The Ampersand Foundation, New York, U.S.A. Residencies 2012 Institut français: Visas pour la Création, Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France 2009 Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany Artist monographs, solo catalogues and other publications 2020 Paul Emmanuel . Edited by Karen von Veh; texts by Annette Becker, Karen von Veh, and Pamela Allara. Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-620-87116-7 2018 Impermanence . Text by Johan Thom. Fried Contemporary, Pretoria, South Africa 2016 Paul Emmanuel: Remnants . Text by Pamela Allara. Boston University Art Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2011 Transitions Multiples . Text by Art Source South Africa. Goya Contemporary, Goya-Girl Press, and Art Source South Africa, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Transitions Multiples . Text by Gallery AOP. Gallery AOP and Art Source South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa 2008 Paul Emmanuel: Transitions . Text by Art Source South Africa. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Transitions . Texts by André Croucamp and Robyn Sassen. Art Source South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-620-41945-1 2004 After-image . Text by Julia Charlton. Paul Emmanuel Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 0-620-32295-0 Public and corporate collections National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution (U.S.A.) Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State, permanent collection, U.S. Embassy Lusaka, Zambia Sylt Foundation (Germany) La FAC – Fontmaure Art Culture Chamalières Charreton (France) Johannesburg Art Gallery (South Africa) Oliewenhuis Art Museum (South Africa) Stellenbosch University Permanent Art Collection (South Africa) Pretoria Art Museum (South Africa) University of South Africa Permanent Collection (South Africa) William Humphreys Art Gallery (South Africa) Spier Contemporary Collection (South Africa) Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts, Wits Art Museum (South Africa) Rand Merchant Bank Collection (South Africa) Ellerman House Collection (South Africa) First National Bank Collection (South Africa) Hollard Insurance Company Limited (South Africa) Johannesburg Securities Exchange (South Africa) Gauteng Provincial Legislature (South Africa) Vodacom Limited (South Africa) MTN Limited (South Africa) Standard Bank Corporate Art Collection (South Africa) SASOL Limited Corporate Collection (South Africa) South African Broadcasting Corporation Limited (South Africa) Artist lectures, panel discussions and mentorships 2026 Panel Discussion: “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art” , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Inventive Leaps, Unruly Voyages: A Roundtable on “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art” , online roundtable convened by American University, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 2025 Keynote Address, Montserrat College of Art Commencement Ceremony, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2023 Artist talk with Q&A, Interdisciplinary Sculpture Department, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Virtual artist talk with Q&A, Montserrat College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2022 Appointed mentor to Absa L’Atelier Art Competition prize winner, Johannesburg, South Africa 2020 Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War – Paul Emmanuel In Conversation With Pamela Allara , University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa 2019 Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War , Ditsong Military History Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa 2018 Paul Emmanuel In Conversation With Fred Khumalo , Alliance Française of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa Invited presenter, Art Source South Africa Artist Career Boot Camp Programme 2017 Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War, Unisa Art Gallery, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Invited presenter, Art Source South Africa Artist Career Boot Camp Programme 2016 Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War , Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 2015 Panel Discussion: Egaf2015 Conference, The Wanderers Club, hosted by Alliance Française of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa 2014 Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War – Paul Emmanuel In Conversation With Bill Nasson , Alliance Française of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa On Making 3SAI: A Rite Of Passage , DIVA-Talk, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War , Tshwane University of Technology, Gauteng, South Africa Return To Thiepval: Imprinting And Erasing Memories Of The First World War – Paul Emmanuel In Conversation With Bill Nasson , Alliance Française du Cap, Cape Town, South Africa 2013 Conférence de Paul Emmanuel , École Européenne, Angoulême, France A Quest For The Lost Men France , Tshwane University of Technology, Gauteng, South Africa “Touch me,” Conférence de Paul Emmanuel , South Africa–France Seasons 2012–2013, Le Cube Centre de Création Numérique, Paris, France A Quest For The Lost Men France , Institut français, Johannesburg, South Africa 2011 Paul Emmanuel Talks To MICA , Falvey Hall, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Six Years Of Scratching: Insights Into An Obsessive Artist’s Project , Alfa Romeo Art Talk, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa 2010 Six Years Of Scratching: Insights Into An Obsessive Artist’s Project , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. On Making 3SAI: A Rite Of Passage , Practice-Led Research Colloquium, University of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Teaching certification and experience 2024–2026 Content expert, co-curriculum designer, and lecturer, Talking with Monuments: Veteran Dialogues on Remembering , Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. National Endowment for the Humanities, Dialogues on the Experience of War , grant AV-298396-24, $99,880. A two-year project using memorial site visits, poetry, and veteran-led discussions to examine military service, remembrance, omission, and moral injury. 2024 Certificate in the College Teaching of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Graduate teaching internship, Dwelling: Restoration and Renewal , Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 2023 Curriculum development, The Warrior’s Path, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Graduate teaching internship, Intervention: Art in the City , Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 2022 Graduate teaching internship, Film as Art: The Films of Robert Altman , Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Public projects, workshops and civic engagement 2024–2026 Talking with Monuments: Veteran Dialogues on Remembering , a two-year civic-engagement and public-humanities project led by the Medical College of Wisconsin and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities program Dialogues on the Experience of War . Content expert, co-curriculum designer, and lecturer. Co-developed and delivered a veteran-centred curriculum using memorial site visits, poetry, and facilitated dialogue to examine military service, public memory, omission, and moral injury. 2022–present The Veteran’s Memorial to the Living , an ongoing digital public artwork, participatory memorial, and archive developed with Katinka Hooyer and U.S. military veterans. Project direction, design, public engagement, and digital stewardship. 2007 Two scratch-plate lithography skills-transfer workshops for students at the National School of Visual Arts (ENAV), followed by a curated public exhibition of the students’ prints at the Centre Culturel Franco-Moçambicano, Maputo, Mozambique 2004 Scratch-plate lithography demonstration and skills-transfer workshop for students at the Egazini Arts Centre, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa 2003 Book and catalogue design and production presentation for third- and fourth-year Fine Art students at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2002 Scratch-plate lithography skills-transfer workshop for participants from the Imbali Visual Literacy Project, Fordsburg Artists’ Studios, Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa 2000 Three scratch-plate lithography skills-transfer workshops for participants from the Ipopeng Project, Open Window Contemporary Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa 1995 Three-day scratch-plate lithography skills-transfer workshop for members of the Thapong Visual Arts Centre at the National Art Gallery, Gaborone, Botswana Professional appointments and independent consulting 2026–present Tour de Force Foundation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. — Consulting Executive Director 2025–2026 Tour de Force Foundation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. — Civic Engagement Consultant 2024–2026 Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. — Consulting curriculum developer and lecturer, Talking with Monuments: Veteran Dialogues on Remembering, a National Endowment for the Humanities-supported project 2024–2025 Tour de Force Foundation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. — Fulbright post-degree academic trainee; Director of Civic Engagement 2003–present Self-employed, Johannesburg, South Africa — Artist, graphic designer, lecturer, and consultant 1995–2002 The Artists’ Press, Johannesburg, South Africa — Collaborative printmaker and graphic designer Selected bibliography 2025 Irene Bronner, “Critical Commemorative Practices in The Lost Men France by Paul Emmanuel,” De Arte , Taylor & Francis, Johannesburg, South Africa, November. ISSN 0004-3389; online ISSN 2471-4100 2022 Irene Bronner, “Light on Loss in New Works by Paul Emmanuel,” Image & Text , no. 36, Taylor & Francis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, December. ISSN 2617-3255 Karen von Veh and Landi Raubenheimer, “Memorials, Landscape and White Masculinity: Dialogic Interventions in South African Art,” Image & Text , no. 36, Taylor & Francis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, November. ISSN 2617-3255 2021 Mark Auslander, “Altered Carbon: Dramas of Detachment. Reflections on Paul Emmanuel’s Substance of Shadows ,” Moving Cube , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa, September Adelheid von Maltitz, Art, Place, Death: The Transformative Power of Dynamic Thresholds , thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, July. Document ID: 2002119739 2020 Mark Auslander and Pamela Allara, “Platform Number 5: Paul Emmanuel,” Art Beyond Quarantine , Mark Auslander, June Karen von Veh, “The Material of Mourning: Paul Emmanuel’s Lost Men as Counter-memorials,” Image & Text , no. 34, Taylor & Francis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, December. ISSN 2617-3255 Ellen Schattschneider, Mark Auslander, and Pamela Allara, “Ex Unitate Vires: Paul Emmanuel,” Art Beyond Quarantine , Mark Auslander, April Mark Auslander, “Veil 1954: Paul Emmanuel,” Art Beyond Quarantine , Mark Auslander, April Pamela Allara, “Carbon dad 2017: Paul Emmanuel,” Art Beyond Quarantine , Mark Auslander, March Pamela Allara and Mark Auslander, “Between Men and Monuments: The Art of Paul Emmanuel,” Art Beyond Quarantine , Mark Auslander, March Pamela Allara, “Shrouds on the Somme’s Body,” in Paul Emmanuel , Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa, March. ISBN 978-0-620-87116-7 Karen von Veh, “Where Have All the Young Men Gone?” in Paul Emmanuel , Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa, March. ISBN 978-0-620-87116-7 Annette Becker, “Paul Emmanuel: The Lost Men France (2014),” in Paul Emmanuel , Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa, March. ISBN 978-0-620-87116-7 2019 Karen von Veh, “The Politics of Memory in South African Art,” De Arte , UNISA Press, Pretoria, South Africa, and Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London, U.K., February. ISSN 0004-3389 2018 Andrew Peter Swanepoel, Repositioning the Problematic Gender Formation of a Generation of White South African Men Through Performance Art , dissertation submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Master of Visual Arts, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, August Robyn Sassen, “Your Name, My Body,” My View: The Arts at Large , Robyn Sassen, Johannesburg, South Africa, March Johan Thom, “Impermanence: Paul Emmanuel,” in Paul Emmanuel: Impermanence , Fried Contemporary, Pretoria, South Africa, March Matthijs Sluiter, “The Lost Men Project,” Fonts in Use , Fonts in Use LLC, Oakland, California, U.S.A., March 2017 Paul van Capelleveen, “Paul Emmanuel, The Lost Men Project,” Reading Is Touching in The Art of Reading, Museum Meermanno, The Hague, The Netherlands, November Pamela Allara, “Paul Emmanuel: The Counter-memorial in the Age of Permanent War,” in Aesthetic Justice , College Art Association Conference, New York, U.S.A., February 2016 Pamela Allara, “Shrouds on the Somme: Paul Emmanuel’s World War I Counter-Memorial,” in Paul Emmanuel: Remnants , Boston University Art Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., January 2015 Pamela Allara, “Mechanized Bodies: From the Armored Body to Technological Vision,” in Permanent War: The Age of Global Conflict , School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., January 2014 Clare Humphries, Material Remains: The Afterlife of Personal Objects , project submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, October, pp. 228–231 Annette Becker, “À guerre mondiale, art Mondial,” in Voir La Grande Guerre – Un Autre Récit , Armand Colin, Paris, France, October. ISBN 978-2-200-28757-3 2013 Dominic Thorburn, “Borderline – Sweeping a Mind Field,” in Borders & Crossings , IMPACT 8 International Printmaking Conference, University of Dundee, Scotland, U.K., August 2012 Irene Enslé Bronner, “The ‘Person without the Person’ in the Early Work of Paul Emmanuel,” De Arte , vol. 85, UNISA Press, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, pp. 42–58. ISSN 0004-3389 Pamela Allara, “Diane Victor and Paul Emmanuel: Lost Men, Lost Wor(l)ds,” Gender and South African Art, African Arts , vol. 45, no. 4, MIT Press Journals, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., October, pp. 34–45. ISSN 0001-9933 2011 Pamela Allara, “Paul Emmanuel’s Transitions: The White South African Male in Process,” NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art , issue 28, Duke University Press, North Carolina, U.S.A., November, pp. 58–66. ISSN 1075-7163 Michael Smith, “FNB Joburg Art Fair Featured Artist Paul Emmanuel,” ArtThrob , Cape Town, South Africa Irene Enslé Bronner, Intimate Masculinities in the Work of Paul Emmanuel , thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa. Document ID: 2108 2008 Robyn Sassen, “Under Covers: South Africa’s Apartheid Army—an Incubator for Artists’ Books,” The Blue Notebook: Journal for Artists’ Books , vol. 3, no. 1, Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, U.K., October. ISSN 1751-1712 (print); ISSN 1751-1720 (online) André Croucamp, “Conversations on the Transience of Light,” in Transitions , Art Source South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-620-41945-1 Aryan Kaganof, “Interview with Paul Emmanuel,” Kagablog , Aryan Kaganof, Johannesburg, South Africa Robyn Sassen, “Of Circumcising and Circumscribing and Understanding Where I Fit In,” in Transitions , Art Source South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-620-41945-1 2007 David Paton, “The Sound of a Book: Sound as Generator of Narrative in the Reception of Selected New Media Objects as Books,” Image & Text , no. 13, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. ISSN 1020-1497 2006 Robyn Sassen, “Attention Seeking Images,” in IMPACT International Printmaking Conference , Tallinn, Estonia David Paton, “Interview with Paul Emmanuel,” in Navigating the Bookscape: Artists’ Books and the Digital Interface , David Paton, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 0-620-37094-7 Robyn Sassen, “Navigating the Bookscape: Artists’ Books and the Digital Interface,” in Navigating the Bookscape: Artists’ Books and the Digital Interface , David Paton, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 0-620-37094-7 2004 Julia Charlton, “Drawing out of the Darkness: Contemplating after-image,” in After-image , Paul Emmanuel Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa. ISBN 0-620-32295-0 2003 Lisa Cohn, “The Lost Men,” ITCH , vol. 1, issue 1, Bell Roberts Publishing, Cape Town, South Africa. ISBN 0-6203-1894-5

Artist statement by Paul Emmanuel, South African artist, outlining the role of the body, memory, identity, gender, sexuality and mark-making in his practice. I would like to say that I try to portray the body as a site of metaphorical and literal struggle; and that I explore the way mental and physical landscapes interact in their construction of memories and identities. I would like to say that I am committed to deconstructing limiting cultural assumptions concerning masculinity. But the truth is there is no such cleverness. My explanations are all retrospective. I am not sure if my work comes from a profound intellectual grasp of social realities. It comes out of being a sensual participant in the world and sometimes it feels as if I have only a tenuous grasp of reality. It is inspired by feelings and aesthetics rather than words and ideas. When I do have ideas, they are not grand literary constructs, profound philosophies or urgent political messages. My ideas are simple frameworks within which I can move. They act as a kind of scaffolding, not as descriptions, explanations or maps. They allow me to perform my feelings through the labour of intense, rigorous, time-consuming mark making. The photographic references I work from are devices that allow emotionally laden textures to emerge on a surface. The obsessive mark making is the only real control I have over confusing feelings about my own identity, gender, sexuality and power. Categories blur and it feels as if I dissolve into the spaces between the marks. The only thing that is certain is change. I hardly ever know where I am going – it is a wonder that forms appear at all. When I was younger, I was seduced by the potential of something emerging out of the soft, velvety blackness. I have always worked reductively from dark to light. The process feels insubstantial and tenuous and often leaves me feeling scared and uncertain about what is trying to emerge and whether I can keep going. The viewer may embed meaning in these surfaces and they can never be right or wrong as I do not assume to know the meaning myself.

Transitions, a 2011 exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Rosenberg Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA. Exhibition view of Transitions , Rosenberg Gallery, Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, USA, 9 September – 2 October 2011 Transitions , Rosenberg Gallery, Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 9 September – 2 October 2011 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 9th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Documentary How the ‘Transitions’ Drawings were Made, 2011, video 2 min 42 sec Artist’s talk Paul Emmanuel Talks to MICA (2011), Falvey Hall, Brown Centre, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA, (Video 34 min 43 sec) Radio interview Marc Steiner Chats to Paul Emmanuel, 2011, The Marc Steiner Show, WEAA 88.9 FM, Baltimore, USA, (Podcast 33 mins) Exhibition ‘Transitions Multiples’, Goya Contemporary Gallery, 2011 Film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008

Impermanence, a 2018 solo exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Fried Contemporary Gallery, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Remember-dismember , 2015, s ingle-channel, high-definition video, stereo soundtrack, 3 min 45 sec Impermanence , Fried Contemporary Gallery, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa 8 March – 7 April 2018 A solo exhibition installed in Rooms 1 and 2 of Fried Contemporary Gallery. Emmanuel was invited by the gallery to show a selection of works dated from 2004 to 2015, curated by Johan Thom and Shenaz Mahomed. Editioned photographic works from ‘The Lost Men’ (2004 –) were selected for this exhibition along with lithographic works from the ‘Transitions Multiples’ (2009 – 11) series and the video ‘Remember-dismember’ (2015). Presented in association with Art Source South Africa. Related content Publication ‘Paul Emmanuel: Impermanence’, Fried Contemporary Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa, text by Johan Thom, 2018, PDF Exhibition ‘Transitions Multiples’, Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 2011 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men France’, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France, 1 July – 1 October 2014 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men Mozambique’, Catembe Ferry Jetty, Maputo, Mozambique, 24 April – 12 May, 2007 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men Grahamstown’, 1820 Settler’s National Monument, Makhanda, South Africa, 1 – 10 July, 2004

Pages from Cathexis, a 2000 exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Open Window Contemporary Art Gallery, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Vault of Breath (detail), 2000. Manière noire stone lithograph on 250 gsm Arches paper 34,5 x 280 cm. Edition 10 Pages from Cathexis , The Open Window Contemporary Art Gallery, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa 30 April – 27 May 2000 Emmanuel's first solo exhibition comprised small, intimate copperplate etchings from the ‘Sleep Series’ as well as his first landscape lithographic work ‘Vault of Breath’ (2000). Page proofs from his artist’s book in progress ‘Cathexis’, were also on view. His artists book ‘Nomina sunt Numina’ (1993) which was submitted for the partial fulfillment of a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1993, was also displayed. The exhibition was extended by an educational display of lithographic and etching equipment. Three skills-transfer printmaking workshops were held at the gallery with young participants from The Ipopeng Project. Supported by a grant from the National Arts Council of South Africa. Related Content Publication Ekupholeni – Place of Healing, Paul Emmanuel Studio, 2000

Transitions, a 2010 solo exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Skylight Gallery, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA. Exhibition view of Transitions , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2010 Transitions , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA 12 May – 22 August 2010 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 7th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel’s ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content News story Voice of America TV News, 2010 Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Publication ‘Paul Emmanuel: Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum for African Art, 2010 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008

After-image, a 2005 exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa. The Lost Men Grahamstown 2 , 2004. Pigment-printed photograph on 300 gsm photorag paper. 100 x 203,5 cm. Edition 5 After-image, The Old Fort, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa 17 January – 10 February 2005 The second showing of this touring solo exhibition comprising early etchings and lithographs, photographs from ‘The Lost Men Grahamstown’ (2004) and a major drawing also titled ‘After-image’ (2004). This drawing is permanently housed in the main reception room of Villa Arcadia as part of the Hollard Collection of South African Contemporary Art. ‘After-image’ was exhibited in South Africa at the US Art Gallery, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, The Old Fort at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, Gauteng, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, Free State and Villa Arcadia, Hollard House, Johannesburg, Gauteng. An illustrated, colour catalogue with essay by Julia Charlton was printed and published by US Art Gallery. Related Content Publication ‘Paul Emmanuel: After-image’, US Art Gallery, 2004 Interview ‘Paul Emmanuel’, MNet TV, Kyknet, (Afrikaans & English), South Africa, 2004 Exhibition ‘After-image’, US Art Gallery, 2004

Transitions, a 2009 solo exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at KZNSA Gallery, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Transitions 5 (detail), 2008. Original drawing hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 78 x 305 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (KZNSA Gallery), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa 2 – 21 June 2009 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 4th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2010

Remnants, a 2015 solo exhibition by Paul Emmanuel at Freedom Park Museum, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Exhibition views and opening address by André Croucamp for Remnants, Freedom Park Museum, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, 25 June – 31 July 2015 Remnants , Freedom Park Museum, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa 25 June – 31 July 2015 In WWI, white South African servicemen fell alongside the Allies fighting against the Germans. Their black comrades, who were not allowed to carry weapons, died as labourers in camps located on the English Channel. The names of black servicemen who died were left off memorials, while those who survived were denied medals to honour them. In ‘Remnants’, Emmanuel presented the remains of the silk banners from ‘The Lost Men France’ (2014) counter-memorial and the casts used to press the names of fallen servicemen into his skin. The video ‘Remembering a Counter-memorial’ documented the process. Photographs of previous installations in ‘The Lost Men’ series, ‘The Lost Men Grahamstown’ (2004) and ‘The Lost Men Mozambique’ (2007) were also on view. Related content Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men France’, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, 2014 Interview ‘Paul Emmanuel on The Lost Men project’, SABC News, 2015

Paul Emmanuel: Transitions solo exhibition at the Sylt Foundation, Germany Transitions 1 (detail), 2007. Original drawing, hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 78 x 305 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany 18 February – 24 April 2011 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 8th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Exhibition ‘Transitions’, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2010 Film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Publication ‘Transitions’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings were Made’ (2011) Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008

Twenty: Art in the Time of Democracy — Johannesburg — archive entry documenting Paul Emmanuel’s participation and work. Still from 3SAI: A Rite of Passage , 2008. High-Definition, single-channel video, stereo soundtrack, 13 min 58 sec Twenty: Art in the Time of Democracy , FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, 11 July – 7 August 2015 This exhibition is in celebration of 20 years of South Africa's democracy and is intended to be a showcase of historical and contemporary work that looks at six different aspects of South African life and experience. Appropriate artists and particular works have been selected to narrate these experiences. A broad range of artists and demographics have been selected to showcase the depth of talent and commentary that comes out of contemporary South African art. Curated by Senior Lecturer Gordon Froud and Professor Karen Von Veh from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. 3SAI: A Rite of Passage (2008) and number 05000674PV (2009) were selected by the curators for this exhibition. Related content Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, 27 September – 31 December 2008 ←Previous Next→